Review: Deadly Little Lies

By: Laurie Faria Stolarz
Published: November 2009 by Hyperion Book CH
Format: Hardback, 282 pages
First Reviewed: September 2011
Buy: Barnes & Noble//Books-A-Million//Amazon//Book Depository
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Sequel to Deadly Little Secret.

Last fall, sixteen-year-old Camelia fell for Ben, the mysterious new boy at school who turned out to have a very mysterious gift—pyschometry, the ability to sense the future through touch. But just as Camelia and Ben's romance began to heat up, he abruptly left town. Brokenhearted, Camelia has spent the last few months studying everything she can about psychometry, and experiencing her own strange brushes with premonition. Camelia wonders if Ben's abilities have somehow rubbed off on her. Can the power of psychometry be transferred?
Even once Ben returns to school, Camelia can't get close enough to share her secret with him. Despite the romantic tension between them, Ben remains aloof, avoiding contact. Then when a series of eerie notes echoes the threats of last semester—and Ben keeps his distance—Camelia makes the painful decision to let go and move on. Adam, the hot new guy at work, seems good for her in ways Ben wasn't. Adam is easygoing, and seems to really care about her.
But when Camelia and Adam start dating, a surprising love triangle results. A chilling sequence of events upturns secrets from Ben's past—and Adam's. Someone is lying, and it’s up to Camelia to figure out who—before it’s too late.

Rating: 1/5

Er...okay...I feel like this review is a waste of time, as I'm just going to repeat myself. So I'm just going to point y'all in the direction of my review of Book 1, and then summarize and explain what made this even worse than the first one for me.

First: The writing was still blah. Even more so with this, as I felt it should have been better than in the first book, but it wasn't. It still read like a first draft. With as much stuff as Stolarz put in here, this book should have been twice as long. Which brings me to the plot: It was boring and so rushed. Whenever a twist would show up or a scene that was meant to get our hearts pumping, it would be over within the snap of a finger.

And the characters? Oh, no better at all. The new characters weren't fleshed out at all. Adam, our third wheel in the ridiculous love triangle Stolarz attempted (more like a fail of a love triangle), was just there. There was a reason, but instead of it being one that...er...really hit the reader hard once they found out, it was just another BAM! Twist over. That's it, sorry. And the little diary entries this time around didn't seem to have a purpose. Unless they're tied into future books--which I won't be reading--they were just a creepy touch that meant nothing in the end.

Oh, and the main twist...really? If you're gonna do something like that, Stolarz, please make it a big deal. Okay, y'all, I'm about to spoil a bit, but too bad. After the twist, the chapter is literally over within two pages and then it's: Four days after blah blah. REALLY?! Come on! Why isn't there any reality in this stuff? Which reminds me of the inconsistent characterization with our MC. Come on, now! The girl went through an entire book without telling anyone of importance about being FREAKING STALKED(!!!) and then runs to the nearest counselor person (or whoever) when someone shuts off the bathroom lights and locks her in. Come on, now...

All right, I feel like I've bashed this book enough, and that always makes me sad, so...positive: The overall premise could have kicked butt if developed and made to make sense because it's a good one. Kimmie was the best character out of all of them. And Wes was all right as well. But these books just didn't do a thing for me. The romance was a joke. The half-romance was a joke. The believability wasn't there, and neither was the intensity. It was just a published first draft, in my opinion, and I won't be reading the others.